Christo Anto Francis | Canada
Merging academic and contemporary painting into one, Christo Anto Francis, an illustrative painter hailing from Canada captures people at various moments of their lives. The artist carefully crafts paintings which have arresting emotions and shows beauty, simplicity, elegance, eccentricity and naughtiness in them. Experimenting with shapes and designs, he investigates the portraits of having these qualities and picks one that stands out in people. Christo describes his works as ‘contemporary realism’ drawing attention to portraits and how each painting tells a story about that person. The portraits are playful, cheeky, innocent and many more; a cornucopia of human emotions which are explored by him. Switching from traditional oil painting to digital and vice versa gives him the freedom to mix and match different textures while keeping the methodology consistent.
City Life, 2019
Contemporary Art Station: Tell us about how you got started. When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
I really started to get interested in art in high school thanks to my teachers and then in sort of snowballed over the years.
CAS: What is your process like, from initial idea to the creation of the piece? Do you usually develop the idea for a project before you find the "canvas", or vice versa?
I do have a few ways. One: I would mess around drawing shapes and designs and come to one that strikes my fancy and work on that one. Two: I would start with an idea, flesh it out and finish it up. Both methods help me in getting whatever idea that I have to fruition.
CAS: What do you love most about your creative process?
I would say that it's definitely the freedom; creatively and intellectually. I can take an idea to it's extents and play around with it until I know that it's complete while learning something in the process. Also, I'm always curious to learn new things and ideas that may help me to see something differently. I could learn and research about something that I would not know in my day-to-day life.
Woman at the Train Station, 2019
CAS: What role does art and the artist play in the broader social conversation today?
I would say that it might depend on the artist and what the artist intends to say, if the artist wants to say. Sometimes, artists create work for aesthetical reasons and sometimes for intellectual ones. Maybe art can change someone's worldview. Maybe art can bring closure for some people. I believe that artists have an accidental responsibility to show their side of the story in the way they envisioned it especially in this day of social media maelstrom.
CAS: Name a few of your favourite artists and influences.
A few artists who I really admire are William Adolphe Bouguereau, Jon Whitcomb, John Singer Sargent and contemporary painter Yigal Ozeri. They all have their unique ways of painting but one of the reasons that I like their works is that they are breaking boundaries on what is considered a portrait painting or how the face should like in a certain way. That is very inspiring to me and forces me to think outside the box to come up with solutions to problems.
CAS: What is the best advice you received as an artist?
When something looks wrong and your instinct agrees with it, go with your instincts.
CAS: When did you discover your voice as an artist?
I felt that I had that beckoning voice but it was only a few years ago that I really wanted to delve into art and be interested in making my art which I felt was necessary to me.
CAS: What advice would you give to emerging artists trying to find their own?
Personally, it's a mixture of a bunch of things from different people and circumstances. Being disciplined, to be creative but ordered and to contract and expand to the painting are just a few that I've learned so far. You have to allow yourself to experiment, maybe fail but evolve as you go on. Sometimes those experiments could lead to someplace else; someplace that you normally wouldn't arrive at. Take a chance, take a few risks and go with the flow.
Peruse, 2019
